Eric Zeman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Fossil is pushing Wear OS 3 to its older smartwatches.
- The update brings a new UI and access to more third-party apps.
- However, it lacks some key Wear OS 3 features.
Fossil is now rolling out the Wear OS 3 update for its Gen 6 smartwatches. The company announced the transition to the newer Wear OS platform in a long-winded Reddit post, where it lists the benefits and challenges of the new software.
Unlike the Pixel Watch, which comes with Wear OS 3.5, Fossil is equipping its Gen 6 smartwatches with Wear OS 3.2. The company says that is the latest version available to it, like any other brand that has Qualcomm Wear 4100/4100 Plus wearables.
Fossil further explained that Wear OS is also built on versions of Android and that Wear OS 3 takes its devices from Android 9 to Android 11.
Regardless of the older version, Fossil’s Gen 6 watches will gain Google’s latest Wear Health Services and companion app components. The smartwatches will see a new user interface with improved readability and elements from Google’s Material You design. Users will also have access to more third-party Wear OS apps available via the Google Play Store.
Another bit of good news is that Fossil’s Wear OS smartwatches will now work with its own app. Previously, users had no option but to use Google’s app.
What’s missing?
While all the above upgrades are great, Fossil’s Wear OS 3 software has a few glaring omissions. For one, you won’t have access to Google Assistant. The company says Google has not made it available to any Qualcomm 4100-based watches. In the meantime, Fossil has collaborated with Amazon to bring Alexa to its Wear OS watches.
Secondly, there’s no Google Fit — an app that came preloaded onto all Wear OS 2 smartwatches. According to Fossil, the app hasn’t been updated to support the latest Wear Health Services. Meanwhile, the smartwatches will continue supporting Google Fit data syncing via Fossil’s phone app.
The Fitbit app remains a Pixel Watch exclusive for now. Fossil writes it is eager to see the app come to its watches in the future, but for now, the only option users have is to use the company’s own Wellness app or some other third-party app.
Lastly, iOS users won’t be able to use Google Wallet at launch. They also don’t get support for Google Maps.
If you own a Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch and want to update to the latest Wear OS 3 software, you can go into your watch settings and check for system updates that started rolling out on October 17.
